When you troll the paddock at a vintage race meet as often as I have, it takes a special car to catch your eye. While my heart still goes pitta-pat for Alfas, Moggies, 356s, and just about every Lotus and Jaguar, when a bright orange sports racer I have never seen before roars by through LRP’s Big Bend, I get serious palpitations. A quick scan of the entry list told me that this was a 1987 Spice Ferrari piloted by Paul Facella. What follows is what I learned about the car and its current owner, and the man and the company that created it – Gordon Spice.
Gordon Spice
A few years back, I asked Derek Bell if he thought anyone was still having as much fun in Formula One as he and his contemporaries were having back in the day. (He had just regaled a bunch of us with non-PG stories.) He thought for a second and said that Johnny Herbert was, but that was about it. But it wasn’t until I read Gordon Spice’s autobiography, “Life of Spice” that I realized exactly what kind of shenanigans were commonplace for so many young drivers in the ’60s and ’70s. Given his confessed exploits in his autobiography, Spice’s name seems to have been appropriate! His motto, “Work as if you’ll live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow,” explains a lot. But I’m ahead of myself.
Born in the UK at the start of the Second World War, Gordon had a relatively comfortable childhood. His entrepreneurial skills were honed early on, selling sweets he made from pilfered school sugar to get enough money to buy cigarettes! He was athletic and excelled at rugby, boxing, hockey, and skiing, winning gold medals on the slopes while he was in school. His school records were (his words) “pretty average” but good enough to have gotten him into medical school. However, again in his own words, “I dumped it all …” Because of money concerns, he would have had to spend the next years under his father’s control and that wasn’t for him.
Daddy’s Surprise
One shocking thing (at least to me) was his 16th birthday present from his father. He took him to a “gentleman’s club” where he was treated to the charms of a young lady only a few years older. Of course, his father did this with ulterior motives – having this as something he could hold over young Gordon lest he tell his mother. Yeah, that certainly was rather strange!
Down Under
At 18, Spice left school (a day he called the happiest in his life) and began helping his father’s business grow. But his wanderlust or need to get out on his own sent him with his brother Dee, and Alan Southern of Phoenix Engineering, to Australia where his business acumen grew and an interest in auto racing bloomed. His life in Australia, despite the good salary and high times he was enjoying, was cut short when he got word that his father was grievously ill and that he had to come home. Once home, he found out that his father was not really sick and the message was sent to lure him home to work in the family cocoa business. Shortly thereafter, he was sent to (of all places) Camden, NJ to run the business. Something he excelled at.
The A40
Around his 21st birthday, he returned to the UK to get married and was given an Austin A40 as his birthday gift. He says that car was the reason he got into racing. Commuting to work in the Austin, he was rear-ended and the car was declared a total. He took the insurance money and, having recently tasted the thrills of racing by driving Dee’s car at Goodwood, bought an MG TF1500 to be his racecar. The MG, he said, turned out to be, “a complete disaster.”
Money Pit
Spice quickly learned that the MG – a fun car on the street – was not competitive in stock form. So he went to Derrington Motors to have work done. This included, “at enormous expense”, an aluminum cylinder head, upgraded carbs, a new performance orientated exhaust, racing brake linings, stiffer shocks, and an aerodynamic windscreen. In the first race to work toward his RAC license, fouled plugs, overheating and a blown head gasket sent him to the sidelines. He said the season went like that. He failed to start in three races and DNF-ed in two others. Worse yet, the frequent trips to Derrington Motors drained his bank account. While he still had the racing bug, he had to wait for another year and more funds to go at it again.
Moggie
Spice applied himself to a new job, selling encyclopedias, and was so good at it that within a year, he had saved £5,000 – a princely sum back then. He knew that Morgans were fast and reliable at the Goodwood races so, in early 1963, he bought a Morgan +4. He said that the Morgan purchase was as good a decision as the MG’s was bad. He drove in 11 races in 1963. He always finished near the front with two class wins and several seconds and thirds. He even scored a pole on a rain soaked track. Spice was spending a lot of time (and money) with a company called Lawrencetune – a Morgan specialist. This was a firm long on engineering smarts, but not so much on financial matters. In order to send a car to Le Mans, he loaned the shop £3000. However, the owner took all of the tools and abandoned the business, leaving Spice with no money and another lesson learned the hard way.
Meet the Mafia
Spice was, fundamentally, a good businessman and after the collapse of the Morgan tuner, he set out to build a retail speed shop to satisfy the needs of the people who wanted to personalize their cars. It proved to be a good business venture so he and his partner decided to explore expansion into the United States. He met with potential partners in the now long-departed AutoPub on NYC’s 5th Avenue. (Today, it’s an Apple mega store.) The night after reaching a handshake marketing agreement with some folks in the car business, they received a phone call at their hotel, inviting them to dinner. At the meeting, two “swarthy Italians” greeted them at the door – a door that was quickly locked and a “closed” sign was flipped over the window. At the get-together, after a hearty meal, he was told that his hosts were in the “insurance business.” He said it became clear that they were being offered “protection” and would be in deep (cussword deleted) if they didn’t accept. Realizing that he and his business partner were in over their heads, they snuck out of their hotel by the back stairway and ran to the airport. He said, “That is how I learned the ‘stick to your own territory’ lesson.”
Mini Racing
Racing had not strayed far from his mind and, using motors he had acquired via an agreement with a firm named Downton when he was sales manager, he went Mini racing in ‘65. While his first effort at Silverstone resulted only in a 14th place finish, his goal – “not to make a fool of myself” – was a success. As he improved he was usually the fastest Mini in the RAC Saloon Car Championship and over time regularly finished ahead of the pack, save for the works teams.
The Ring Adventure
His reputation was growing such that he was approached with an offer to be a hired driver at a 6-hour race at the “Ring” in Germany. When he was asked by the Cooper Car Company team manager if he knew the track, he blurted, “… like the back of my hand” – having never seen the track before. When the subject of money came up he was given a figure of £200. Hearing that, thinking it would be money he would have to pay to drive for them, he balked. They thought he was playing hardball to get a bigger paycheck! Their response was a better offer, throwing in travel and hotel expenses! It took young Gordon a second to figure out that he was going to be paid to race.
Spice, ever the clever gent, flew to Germany, rented a BMW 1600, disconnected the speedometer and, for two Deutschmarks per lap, set about learning the track. He had a tape recorder and a stopwatch in his lap, recording course instructions (like a primordial YouTube video). He listened to the tape he made, staying up most of the night until he was convinced he knew the track. The first day’s driving had worn out the tires and brakes – both of which he had replaced at a local garage and on day two, listening to the tape as he drove, his times were a respectable 11 minutes 30 seconds. To offset the two DM per lap track fee, he took passengers for three DM per lap! Spice celebrated the achievement with an evening of carnal bliss with a pair of local fräuleins – returning home with a case of the crabs that he told his wife came from a toilet seat! The rent-a-car company was none too happy with the condition of the car when he returned it and kept his security deposit and chased him for more money. On race day, the team finished 14th overall and 5th in class – acceptable given the fact that Spice had a serious “off” that damaged a steering arm.
Championship
In 1968 and 1969, Spice’s racing skills matured. Of the 11 races in ’68, he only crashed out once, scoring two wins and five other podium finishes to earn the one-liter class championship. The next year, he did even better with enough racing income to open five new accessory shops. 1969 also was the year that his prowess as a driver earned him a seat in a Ford GT40 for the BOAC race at Brands Hatch. Sadly, the car retired early with clutch problems, but things improved at the next race at Jarma in Spain with a class win and third overall.
Open Wheel and Tin Tops
Racers race. That’s what they do. Spice spent the next few years driving Formula 5000 cars, even sharing the grid with F1 cars at some races to fill the field. While not really competitive against the sport’s best cars and drivers, the F1 money was good and helped pay bills back home. (His philandering had earned him a divorce and the loss of much of his finances.) He kept racing by being a paid driver for the owner of a Ford dealership.
His steed was a Ford Capri and he scored race and rally success with the car and team for 10 years. Spice returned to Formula 5000 with the help of a rather rich beneficiary and was doing acceptably well until he had a huge shunt that resulted in serious injuries to his legs, jaw, and teeth.
Sports Racers
In 1982, Spice’s company signed a contract with Ford Motor Co. to compete in the 1983 FIA Group C Sports Prototype Championship. They were planning to run a completely new aerodynamic Group C car, complete with ground effects. The power would come from a 3.9 liter DFL Cosworth. A turbo version was being built to compete with the Porsche 956s in the top Group C class. Winter testing of the new Ford – with the non-turbo – showed greater pace than the Porsches. Spice had to learn the secret of fast cornering with ground effects, “… the faster you went, the greater the suck.” Shortly after the testing, Ford made the decision to abandon the project. The legendary Karl Ludvigsen, then VP of Ford Europe and genius behind the Group C effort, resigned. Ford did the honorable thing and paid Spice and the team members but they would not sell him cars he tested – one was crushed, the other used for promotional events.
In 1983, a wealthy backer named Neil Crang bought a Tiga chassis, plugged in a 5-liter Chevrolet motor and went racing at Brands Hatch in the top class of Group C – C1. The results were poor and everyone knew it would never be competitive at the C1 level. Over the winter, Spice modified the Tiga chassis to take the DFV V8, and modified the bodywork up front to resemble the 956. Spice said, “It was fundamentally stable and responded to suspension and aerodynamic changes.” And with that, the Spice-Tiga was born. In 1984, they won the Nurburgring 1000km in the Group C Junior class and followed that up with wins at Brands Hatch, Spa, Mugello and Sandown Park.
Spice-Fiero
For the 1985 running of Le Mans, Spice had invited along John Callies, competition chief of GM’s Pontiac Division. Despite some issues during the race, Spice and his co-driver, Mark Galvin, won their class by 10 laps. Other successes resulted in a deal for 1986 to design, build and run a new sports prototype in the Camel Lights class in IMSA. The deal led to the creation of the car called the Spice Fiero – the deal required that the nose of the car resemble the lines of Pontiac’s street Fiero. Credit goes to Graham Humphrys who, according to Gordon Spice, designed a, “user-friendly sports car suitable for privateers. It was easy to service and repair and at £179K for a rolling chassis, far less expensive than the competition.”
These cars continued in competition for several years, scoring team wins and a driver’s title for Fermin Velez. For 1988, Humphrys made modifications to accept a more powerful motor and he also improved the aerodynamics.
Spice Chassis SE87L-001
Our subject car, owned and driven by seasoned vintage pilot, Paul Facella, is the first of three Spice Group C2 cars built under the Spice Fiero contract. Originally, it was run with the GM four-banger and, in 1987, scored five class wins and 12 top ten finishes. In 1988, it scored ten top-10 results and is recognized as the most successful of the three SE87L Spice chassis cars. In 1990, the car was sold to Racecraft International where it received updated bodywork, a 4-corner suspension and other design updates from the Spice Acura racers. Jim McGee, the race shop owner who currently prepares the car, described it as, “Strong, simple, sturdy … exactly what you want in a car that has to withstand the rigors of a 24-, 12- or 6-hour race.” He added, “It shows quality construction for its time,” a compliment to Spice Engineering, several decades later.
Today, the car is campaigned in vintage racing events by Paul Facella who is also a well-regarded Ferrari driver in the FCA track program where he has been running a 355 Challenge car for several seasons. This car spoke to him because he liked the bright Denon livery and, of course the Ferrari power – a V8 from a Ferrari 328 built and tuned by Savannah Racing and Marcovicci-Wenz Engineering.
Driver Notes
Paul Facella is someone I would call a gentleman racer. He used to run a 512 BBLM in Ferrari Historics, something that he described as “hefty to drive” – and over time, he decided he wanted something else. As for our Spice subject car, he really wasn’t looking for this car specifically. He said, “It just popped up on the Internet” and, I guess, its racing record spoke to him! Paul explained, “I like cars with history. I believe it’s about the cars, not the drivers.” Then, in what I think is in the heart of many vintage racecar owners, he added, “I like to bring history back to life … this [car] seemed to be a pretty good way of doing it.”
He did have a concern about it being right-hand drive, but the shifter is on the right too so he said he adapted to the seating position easily. The closed cockpit with the wing-mounted mirrors was also a concern. However, once he had some seat time, it proved to be a non-issue. He did say, “The enclosed cockpit is a little hot so they are working on that with a helmet cooler.” One thing that surprised me is that he said the digital tachometer doesn’t really “kick in” – his words – until 5,000 RPM. “You’re staying at a very high RPM in comparison to a lot of other cars.” Then, the racer showed his mettle saying, “ … About 6,000 to 8,000, that car just screams! You can feel it pull, and pull, and pull. That was pretty interesting!” Since this is a car with both aero features and ground effects, Paul admitted they are, “ … terrific, I wasn’t used to that and it really keeps it planted.” Since this is only his second year with the car, he is still getting used to it with more seat time, but he thinks with another season in the car, he’ll be able to get “a little more out of it.” Of course, as you can imagine with a car of this pedigree, Paul told me the car is, “a lot of fun, it can do a lot and it handles well.” He added something that anyone who has driven a racecar with ground effects knows, “The faster you go, the better it feels; you can’t go putting around. But you can really push that car.”
Final Thoughts
Sometimes, life comes together in such a way that all the pieces magically fall in place. In my opinion, that’s what happened with Spice SE87L-001 and Paul Facella. Paul said that when he saw the car, it spoke to him. He then did lots of research, including talking to a prior owner. Next, he wisely brought in two ex-race team engineers, Mark Wehrman, and Don Wolf, to do the nut-and-bolt inspections he knows every old racecar should have. For track events, he trusts Jim MCGee at Pocono Sportscar to do service and the track support. By the way, Paul boasted that Mark Wehrman and Don Wolf have 90 years of experience engineering racecars and that he has confidence they will ensure the car is properly prepared and safe. Throw in the fact that Paul is a skilled and suitably respectful owner/driver of a car that has a remarkable and important history with over the top exciting performance and the marriage is complete. Going forward, Paul says that he is building up his speed by running in sensibly selected run groups as he adds seat time and becomes more comfortable behind the wheel. Currently, he’s clocking one minute flat at Lime Rock with a target of 58 seconds next season. For perspective, Paul says his files show that Charles Morgan recorded a 50 second lap at Lime Rock and a 1 min 51 second lap at Watkins Glen.
Thanks to Paul Facella and Jim McGee for their help in researching this story.
DRIVERS
In Sprint Races (1987)
- Don Bell
- Jeff Kline
- Charles Morgan
Long Distance Races
- Costas Los
- Hendrick ten Cate
Long Distance Races (1988)
- Dominic Dobson
RACE RECORD
1987
500 KM Road Atlanta – Class Win
500 KM Riverside – Class Win
300 KM Laguna Seca – Class Win
500 KM Mid-Ohio – Class Win
San Antonio 3-hour race – Class Win
3000 KM Portland – Class Win1988
500 KM Mid-Ohio – Class Win
300 KM Portland – Class Win
150 Lap Race – Lime Rock – 2ndTop-10 Finish 12 Times
